“I am only one, but still I am one.
I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something I can do.”

Edward Everett Hale

Friday 5 August 2022

The Sameness of Sky

 I love this week's quotation, by the American writer and aviator, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, "The sky is the same all over the world, no matter how the world changes."


The truth of this came home to me the first time when I was flying out to Boston Airport, in preparation for spending a magical week on Star Island. As we took off from Heathrow, the sky was overcast. But once we broke through the cloud cover, it was all blue sky and fluffy white clouds - beautiful. I blogged about it here. And I will always remember flying in over Boston Harbour at sunset - the beauty of it took my breath away.

Her words are also true for our spiritual lives - on the mundane level of our everydays, the weather may be changeable, like the world that surrounds us. One day, all may be light and bright and wonderful, the next all gloom, doom, and despondency. At such times, I find it helpful to remember that God is the unchanging power of Love at the centre of everything, unaffected by the ups and downs of my life.

I've also learned that each of us has a deepest part, that is forever innocent, forever unwounded, not affected by our life experiences. The Quakers call it "that of God in everyone". If we can somehow connect with this deepest part of ourselves, it can give us some valuable perspective as we slog through the changing landscapes of our lives.

Every time I see a gap in the clouds, I am reminded of this truth, which helps to ground and centre me as I walk through the story of my days.


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